Asked by you — what happens if I retake the ACT and get a lower score?

If you retake the ACT and get a lower score, most colleges will consider your highest score for admission purposes. It is generally recommended to only send your highest score to colleges.

So let us dig a little deeper

As an expert in the field, I can provide you with detailed information regarding what happens if you retake the ACT and receive a lower score.

Firstly, it’s important to note that most colleges consider your highest ACT score for admission purposes. This means that even if you retake the ACT and receive a lower score, colleges will primarily evaluate your application based on your highest achieved score. Admissions officers understand that test scores can fluctuate and recognize that students may not always perform their best on every attempt.

To support this, a quote from the College Board, the organization that administers the ACT, states, “Colleges report to us that that they look for improvement between testing events, so taking the exam a second or even third time may be beneficial.”

Here are a few interesting facts related to retaking the ACT:

1. Most colleges and universities in the United States practice “super-scoring,” where they consider the highest section scores from different test dates. This gives students an opportunity to showcase their best performances across multiple attempts.

2. According to data from the ACT, about 57% of students who retake the test see an improvement in their composite score. This indicates that retaking the ACT can often lead to better outcomes.

3. Many colleges also offer ACT score choice or score flexibility policies, allowing students to select which test scores to send. This gives students the option to only submit their highest score, further emphasizing the importance of achieving a better score on subsequent attempts.

Now, let’s dive deeper into the reasons why colleges primarily focus on the highest ACT score. Admissions officers understand that standardized tests like the ACT can be influenced by various factors such as test anxiety, lack of preparation, or even outside distractions on test day. Therefore, they tend to prioritize the best score as it represents the student’s true potential.

Furthermore, retaking the ACT can demonstrate a student’s determination, growth mindset, and willingness to improve. Admissions committees appreciate the effort and dedication shown by students who strive to enhance their academic profile. This aligns with a famous quote from Thomas Edison, who said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Edison’s words highlight the importance of perseverance and learning from setbacks, which can be applied to the process of retaking the ACT.

In summary, retaking the ACT and receiving a lower score does not usually negatively impact your college admissions prospects. Colleges generally consider your highest score and understand that test scores can fluctuate. By showcasing improvement and determination through retaking the exam, you can demonstrate your commitment to academic growth and potentially enhance your college application.

Related video

This video explains that a lower SAT retake score doesn’t always mean that a student has gotten worse. It could be a correction to their surprisingly high first-time score, bad luck on the retake, or even a decrease in abilities. The video stresses the significance of knowledge and competency in life and invites viewers to subscribe for more information.

Some further responses to your query

Getting a lower score on a retake won’t affect college admission. Luckily, some schools do not require you to send all of your scores if you don’t want to. Your chances of getting into you dream school aren’t ruined just because of a score decrease.

Retaking the ACT is the only way you can take advantage of superscoring. If you do worse, you can simply submit the higher score from a previous test. Some colleges (e.g., The Ivy League) require you to submit all of your ACT scores to assess your academic growth.

What To Do If You Get a Low SAT or ACT Score

• Sign up for a Retest It’s a good idea to sign up to retake the test as soon as you receive your lower than expected results from the ACT or SAT.
• Check What You Did Wrong

If there’s a large discrepancy between the way you typically perform on tests in school and the ACT exam, then chances are good your score was a fluke and it will improve if you retake it. Doing additional prepwork will obviously help your score, too, especially if you focus on the areas in which you performed the lowest.

If you take the ACT more than once, you have the option of receiving a superscore based on the highest scores you have attained on each section of the test. For instance, if on your retake you score better in the English and Science sections, but not Math and Reading, only the higher-scoring sections will be used to calculate your new superscore.

So the odds are your ACT score will go up, but that is far from a guarantee. In fact, the odds are roughly 55/45 between your score going up or your score staying the same or decreasing. So if you retake the ACT, it’s almost as likely your score will stay the same or decrease rather than increase.

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